


You Raise Me Up, or: Thanks, Josh Groban, for the Awful Title

by merkintosh



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-15
Updated: 2013-04-15
Packaged: 2017-12-08 10:30:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/760346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merkintosh/pseuds/merkintosh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn likes to lift stuff. So he makes it a goal to pick every member of New Directions up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Raise Me Up, or: Thanks, Josh Groban, for the Awful Title

**Author's Note:**

> There is no point to this story.

When Finn leaned over and grabbed Puck's knees, his first response was to try and punch Finn in the head. The second was to yell, "Dude! What the fuck!"

Finn just grunted and then lifted Puck up in the air. He was holding Puck bridal style in the middle of the choir room while everyone else tittered. "I just wanted to see if I could lift you."

Puck did not like being in the air. He scrambled to put his arms around Finn's neck before he fell. "Put me down!" he said when Finn's arms started to tremble.

"I will when you let go of me," Finn said through gritted teeth. Puck lifted his hands up in the air into the universal surrender gesture.

Once his feet were back on the ground, Puck danced away from Finn while keeping an eye on him. Finn just sort of stood there with his hand on his lower back. "Never do that again," Puck hissed when he got to a seat as far away as possible from Finn. He sat down and crossed him arms.

Finn just shrugged.  
___

Finn struck again later in the week when he came up behind Mercedes and leaned down, putting an arm around her waist. By the time he had an arm around her knees and was standing up with her in his arms, Mercedes had gotten over her shock enough to yell, "What has gone wrong in your head, Finn? Let go of me!"

Finn just shook his head and bounced Mercedes in his arms until she was in a more settled position. Mercedes actually squeaked. "Coach said I needed to do more weight training this year, but they lock the weight room after four." Finn said, his eyebrows scrunched in concentration.

Mercedes wanted to hate Finn for saying that, but he was too stupid to be this subtle about insulting her. "Finn, I'm not a dumbell. I do not like being carried around like a child. Put me down now."

Finn put her down, far more gently than he had Puck, and kept her by his side by putting his arm around her shoulders. He squeezed her in apology.

Mercedes felt like her face was on fire for the rest of glee practice.  
___

It was pretty scary when Mr. Schuester ran into Mike and Brittany during dance practice. All three of them tripped and fell into a giant heap. By the time everybody else reached them, Brittany was sitting upright, shaking her head and Mike was standing over Brittany and Will with a concerned look on his face. Will just lay on the floor with his hand over his face while he silently laughed.

"Are you ok, Mr. Schue?" Mercedes asked before kneeling beside him.

He sighed and moved his hand down to the floor. "No. I think I hurt my foot. How stupid is that?"

Mike leaned back down and gently prodded Will's foot and ankle. "It looks like you sprained your ankle. It's not too bad though. I'm so sorry about running into you like that." Mike said, Brittany nodded from behind his shoulder.

Will just waved them off, "It was my fault kids. I shouldn't have been standing there. I'll just sit on the piano bench and watch from now on."

When practice was over, Will was rubbing his forehead as he tried to ignore the pain in his ankle. They had bandaged it up for him, but the thought of standing up right now made him wince just thinking about it.

"Where are your car keys?" Puck asked. He looked up and saw Puck peering at him solemnly.

"What?" Will asked out of instinct while pointing at his bag. Puck and Matt both walked over to his bag and got out his keys.

"What are you guys doing?" He said as Finn came over from the risers and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We have to do this sometimes after a rough practice. They'll bring your car around to the closest entrance." Finn said.

He couldn't help smiling when he heard that. "Thanks, guys. I appreciate the help."

Finn smiled, "Not a problem, Mr. Schue. Now don't forget to hold on."

Any questions he might have had were swallowed up in the yell of surprise he gave when Finn leaned over and just lifted him off the piano bench into his arms. He had seen Finn pick up the other kids before and knew he was strong, but he never expected he'd end up in Finn's arms. Will couldn't remember the last time he'd be in the air under someone else's power.

"This is completely unnecessary, Finn. I can walk to my car." he tried to convince Finn to let him go. It was weird being picked up by one of his kids. He could see Mike and Kurt back in the room gathering up his papers and things.

"Don't worry, Mr. Schue, I won't drop you." Finn said as he walked out the door. "I do this sometimes on the field when someone trips on the equipment during practice."

It was quiet in the hallway with just the two of them there and only the sound of Finn's feet on the floor. Will could feel himself going red with embarrassment at being carried around like a child.

Finn grunted a little as he repositioned Will in his arms. He couldn't help tightening his hold on Finn's neck at that. "Sorry," Finn said with a grunt, "I don't usually carry people for this long. And you're, like, all muscle."

Will wanted to bury his head in Finn's neck at that, but he was pretty sure that would make this situation even more inappropriate than it already was.

"Not that I can't do this, Mr. Schue." Finn kept talking as they reached the doors. Puck was holding them open and gave a mocking bow as they passed, "I don't mind."

Matt was by the car door and watched as Finn let him down so he could sit inside. Kurt and Mike came running up with his things and he took them and put them in the passenger seat. He could barely look anyone in the eyes, but he forced himself to do it.

"Thanks, guys. You're good kids. A little crazy, but good." He said before shutting the door. They all smiled as he drove off, waving until he could no longer see them in his mirrors.

The memory of their help left him smiling all night long.  
___

They're in the auditorium kind of freestyling when Mike approaches Finn and says, "I want you to help me with some lifts I'm working on."

Finn kind of looks around the stage at all the girls, "Um..."

Mike shakes his head, "No, I want you to pick me up. I need to figure out where to put my hands when I'm doing the lifting."

Finn nods and bends his knees at that. He doesn't quite get it, but Mike asked. "What do you want me to do?"

Mike has him first lift him up at the waist, straight up, and then put him back down before lifting him by his armpit and thigh so he's horizontal and pointing downwards like they're figure skaters. Mike is a lot heavier than he thought he'd be so it's a strain. Still, it's kind of fun to do, especially when the rest of the group stop and start clapping and whistling whenever he picks Mike up.

He finds it funny to pick Mike up while he's rolled into a ball, but he's sure it must look really cool from the way everyone else starts smiling when he does it. They end with Mike relaxed in his arms, hands around his neck before moving up to ruffle his hair. "Thanks, man. That helped me out a lot. Now put me down or walk me through the door so we can start our honeymoon."

Finn just shook his head, "Whatever."  
___

Finn's been paired up with Santana for some sort of Dirty Dancing-style lift where he holds her ribcage while she pretends to fly for their new song. He's ready to practice, but Santana just sort of stands there and stares at him, her arms crossed as she glares. Finn sighs before looking away and then looking back at her, "We have to do this, Santana. It's for the song."

Santana still doesn't move. "This is stupid."

"It's not like I'll drop you," Finn pleads. He puts his arms out and bends like he's going to catch a football. "Just run and I pick you up."

Santana rolls her eyes at him, "I don't care about that, Finn. I just want to know why we have to do Wind Beneath my Wings. It's the dumbest song ever."

Finn stood up straight. "Look, it's not like I like the song either. But Mr. Schue picked it and we should just learn it and tell him how we feel later. We only have to do it for invitationals. So are you ready?"

Santana sighed but dropped her arms, muttering about how Rachel must have blackmailed Mr. Schuester with something. Finn braced himself and watched as she ran into his arms, letting him lift her over his head with her arms spread and ankles locked. She was as light as a piece of paper and her boobs looked amazing from below.  
___

Tina was at Kurt's house for a sleepover and she was a little intimidated by the sheer amount of taxidermied fish in their den. Sinking further into the overstuffed couch in front of the massive television, she tried not to look to the sides of the room if only to make sure their plastic eyes weren't following her.

“Oh hey, Tina. What are you doing here?” She heard Finn's voice from behind her. Turning her head, she saw him in the kitchen with a gigantic sandwich on a plate.

That's when Kurt breezed up the stairs from his room, passing Finn in the kitchen to reach the den. “We're going to watch Ninja Assassin and Se7en, Finn, and then we're going to dye our hair and make costumes for our new song. Would you like to see our itinerary?” Kurt said before falling onto the couch next to her. He sank deep into the cushions and had become unbalanced enough while sitting that he was now leaning into her shoulder. Tina smiled and shook her head.

“Sorry!” Finn said, “I didn't mean to be nosy, I was just surprised.” He shrugged hard and high, almost tipping his plate over doing so. Scrambling to re-settle his sandwich, Finn quickly turned around to face the kitchen counter.

Tina leaned in to whisper to Kurt, “Why is Finn here?”

“They moved back in around Thanksgiving,” Kurt whispered back, “We've been keeping quiet about it because last time the jerks at school made it really hard on us and it didn't work out too well. I should have told you.” He picked up the remote and started the movie.

Tina squeezed his arm and leaned into lay her head on his shoulder, “I'd have liked the warning, but I understand. Is it working out ok?”

They heard the crash of a broken glass from the kitchen, “It's ok! It fell into the sink.” Finn yelled out from behind them.

Kurt sighed and purposefully didn't look behind him. “Crate and Barrel have an online store.”

~~~

Tina could hear voices above her, “You don't have to do this, really. We were planning to stay up here.” she heard.

“Yeah, but it's not really comfortable in here, Kurt. Your dad has like, a lot of creepy fish and this couch isn't very long.”

“I like the fish,” Tina must have misheard that. Maybe she was dreaming, “And not everyone is a skyscraper of a human being like you, Finn. The couch is fine.”

The voices were getting closer now, “I'm still going to do it. She'll sleep better downstairs. Besides, Mike's coming over in the morning and we're going to practice up here. It'll wake you guys up early.”

“I forgot about that,” Tina really needed to wake up now. “Fine. But don't wake her.”

She could sort of feel hands sliding between her and the couch scooping her up, but she was too tired to actually care. By the time she had been jostled enough going down the stairs, the whole thing was over and she was gently placed onto Kurt's bed. She fell back asleep.

\----

Finn bent down behind Matt to try and lift him like he had Puck and Mercedes. When he got his hands around Matt's waist, Matt went completely limp in his arms and slithered down to the floor. Finn didn't know how to respond to that, the sight of Matt sprawled at his feet was so weird.

"Matt? What are you doing? Get up." Finn said before kneeling down to grab Matt's arm and help him back up. Matt didn't seem to want help though and remained dead weight on the floor while Finn tried to get a hold on him. He was too heavy to lift up from a horizontal position on the floor.

Finn sighed and stood back up. Matt even had his eyes closed, his arms on the floor where Finn had dropped them. "Stop it already." Finn said before moving to grab Matt's feet. He dragged him across the floor by his legs in the hopes that it would stir Matt enough to complain. Matt just lay there.

Finn let go of Matt's legs and tried to figure how to get Matt to respond to him. He crossed his arms and promised, "I won't try and pick you up, Matt. Just please stand up before the rest of the glee club gets here and thinks I killed you or something."

Matt immediately opened his eyes and grinned while he stood up.  
___

Finn was trying to clear the chairs from the risers for a song they're going to practice, but Kurt, Mercedes, and Quinn are having a really involved conversation in the corner. They don't look like they're going to move anytime soon. Finn looks around and sees that the only chairs left are the ones they're sitting on.

Finn shrugs a little and sighs before reaching down and lifting the chair Quinn is in up and down off the riser. She had been the closest to the lip and Finn had a feeling she was the lightest of the three (but he'd never say that out loud. He'd said something similar about weight once to his mother and she'd thrown a spoon at him). She gave a quiet, “Oh!” when he moved her and was startled enough that she almost fell out of the chair before Finn could put it back on the ground.

“Sorry,” Finn said, “We need the risers clear for the song and you guys looked really involved in your conversation.” He looked past Quinn to see Mercedes and Kurt pick up their chairs and stack them with the rest back by the band.

Quinn was still sitting in the chair, looking up at him quietly. Finn hadn't talked much to Quinn since regionals. He hadn't actively meant to ignore her, but he had spent most of his time with Rachel when he wasn't working over the summer and from what Kurt had said, Quinn spent most of her time either working out or with Mercedes. They just hadn't crossed paths much and it kind of weirded Finn out that Quinn wasn't really a part of his life anymore. They had been close even before dating, having been friends through middle school.

When Quinn did stand up, they were really close to each other, her hair ended up practically in his face because he hadn't straightened up yet. He could smell her shampoo and it reminded him of when she had been staying with him and his mom before sectionals. They had had to share a bathroom and sometimes, he'd been so tired in the mornings that he'd end up using her shampoo and smell like flowers until football practice. He hadn't minded too much because it had made him feel closer to her, like they were already a family.

“Sorry,” Quinn said before ducking her head and putting a strand of hair behind her ear. Finn couldn't think of anything to say so he just nodded and stepped away from the chair. Quinn picked it and took it across the room to where the rest were stacked up. Finn watched her go.

\----

Invitationals had been awesome with so many people showing up and the songs went off without a hitch or anyone going into labor or whatever. Finn was excited that everything seemed to be going to plan so far this year (unlike last year where it felt like every major event had to be surrounded by some sort of drama. Last year had been tiring). They were all heading down the hallway towards the dressing rooms off the auditorium when Brittany just fell on her face without any warning or stumble beforehand.

“Are you ok?” Santana asked as she rushed to kneel down beside Brittany who was still flat on the floor. Brittany waved her hand in the air negligently before pushing herself up with her arms.

“I broke a heel.” Brittany said, “It just snapped while I was walking. That's so weird.” Santana helped Brittany try and stand up. The heel on her left shoe was definitely broken making Brittany look lopsided.

“You should take your shoes off if you want to keep walking,” Finn said, “You might hurt yourself.” Brittany nodded and shifted in order to get her shoes off but Santana stopped.

“You can't walk down these halls with no shoes on.” Santana said, “You remember what Coach Sylvester said about the wax they use on the floors.” She looked pointedly down at the floors and then back to Brittany. Brittany's eyes went wide before she nodded and stopped taking her shoes off. Finn looked at the floor in consternation.

Santana pointed at Finn. “Help her walk to the choir room. I have an extra pair of shoes there.”

Finn nodded and looked at the two girls. He wasn't quite sure how to help. “I could carry you like I did Mr. Schue, Brittany.” He said,

Brittany shook her head, “I don't want to get married yet.”

Finn didn't know what to say to that so he just blinked a lot. “Ok. Then I could carry you on my back, I guess.”

“Like leapfrog?” Brittany asked. She looked at Finn accusingly, like he was suggesting something obscene. Finn didn't know what Brittany considered leapfrog so it's possible she did think he was suggesting something wrong.

“More like a piggyback ride. Like you give to kids?” Finn said before coming closer to Brittany and Santana. Santana was whispering in Brittany's ear while squeezing her arm. Brittany was listening intently to what Santana was saying before nodding and taking a deep breath.

“Ok,” Brittany said, “But nothing funny, Finn. This doesn't mean we're dating.”

Finn just shook his head and turned around so Brittany could climb on his back. Once she was up, he put his hands under her thighs to keep her legs around his waist and started walking to the choir room. Brittany kept her arms around his neck, but didn't try and choke him while holding on so it wasn't difficult to walk with her on his back. She was really warm, though, and every time she breathed, she would blow air across his neck and her breasts rubbed against his back in a way that made him uncomfortable. Santana walked beside him, smiling up at Brittany as if sharing a joke he wasn't in on.

“Finn,” Brittany said, “Thank you. We'll have to do this again sometime when my feet aren't going to fall off if I touch the floor with them.”

“Sure,” Finn said, a little freaked out as he looked down at the floor. Coach Sylvester was scary.

But Finn kind of liked the idea of hanging out with Brittany. Just not in a way that would make Rachel dump him. She was nice when she wasn't insulting him. Maybe they could play Halo together or she could help him with his dancing.

\----

Finn couldn't figure out what Artie and Kurt actually did together when they hang out in the basement after school. He'd go down there and they'd both be sitting at opposite ends of the room, books in front of them, just not talking. Sometimes, he'd go down and they'd be yelling at each other, throwing small objects or whatever they could reach as they argued about random things like homework or glee and one time, Finn thought he heard them mention Lord of the Rings. He didn't know how their friendship worked, but they seemed to like being all hot and cold, so whatever.

But Finn really liked Artie, who was pretty much the coolest person he'd ever met. Artie would sometimes come in through the front door instead of the basement door and they'd all hang out upstairs, playing videogames or cards. When Kurt's not around, Artie and he would throw around his small nerf ball in the living room or talk about forming a band (they tried to convince Kevin who played bass in the jazz band to join them, but he wasn't into rock music) and what they'd name it (Finn really wanted to call it 'Touching Cloth', but Artie said no). Plus, Artie showed him where all the free porn sites were online and how to erase the history on his computer.

That's why when Artie came over on that Wednesday while Kurt was still shopping with Mercedes that he barrelled to the front door and waved at Artie and his dad until they drove to the front door instead of the back.

“You were really excited to see me just then, Finn,” Artie said as he wheeled into the front hallway. “A little too excited if you ask me.”

Finn waved what Artie was saying off, “Artie, would you be willing to go into the backyard and have me hold you up?”

Artie made a face and leaned back in his chair. “Have you been sniffing compressed air?” he asked.

“I don't know how to do that,” Finn said, sort of losing track of the conversation for the second as he tried to figure out why you'd sniff canned air. “But that's not important. I just wanted to show you something.”

Artie was silent for a little while, “And it's outside.”

“Yeah,” Finn nodded.

Artie shrugged, “Ok, I guess. Do I get a clue at least?”

Finn started walking to the back porch and helped Artie get his chair of the high lip from the sliding doors. “You know how our neighbors have a high privacy fence?”

“Yeah,” Artie said, dragging out the word.

Finn stood by while Artie locked the wheels to his chair, “Well, it turns out one of the neighbors is actually Mrs. Yoris from middle school. You remember her?”

Artie smiled, “Man, who doesn't? She was so hot. I think I had my first wet dream about her.”

“Well,” Finn said with a smile, trying to block out what Artie just confessed. “Turns out, she has an above-ground pool and likes to nude sunbathe.

Artie lifted his hands out of the way instantly so Finn could pick him up.

\----

Finn checked his relationship calendar and saw that he was supposed to meet Rachel in the auditorium for extra voice practice today. He had totally forgot and was already ten minutes late. Slamming his locker door shut, he raced down the hallway, his phone in hand so he could text that he was on his way.

Out of breath as he reached the door, Finn looked down at the stage and saw it was empty. Frowning, Finn checked his phone and saw the message from Rachel, “I am in the tech booth, meet me there.”

Finn fiddled with the collar of his shirt before opening the door to the tech booth. Inside, Rachel was standing with one foot on a wobbly chair and the other half on the soundboard, straining to reach an uncovered lightbulb on the ceiling. Finn's eyes grew wide as he saw her legs strain—her skirt was really short today and he could almost see her panties.

“Hey,” Finn said only for Rachel to jerk her head around. It was too much for the flimsy chair and it started to tip over, causing Rachel to windmill her arms in a pathetic attempt to stay upright. Finn reacted quicker than he could think about it and caught her before she was even halfway to the floor.

“Are you alright?” Finn asked. Rachel looked up at him with startled, wide eyes before nodding frantically. Her hands were covering his. It took him an embarrassingly long amount of time to stop staring at her and put her down on the ground.

Rachel shook her head and blinked hard before taking a deep breath and smoothing down her skirt. Finn tried to act like he hadn't been looking at her legs. “Thank you, Finn, for catching me. I was trying to change the lightbulb above the soundboard before we started practicing, but I should have made the effort and found a stepladder.” She said, looking at the ground and around the room.

“Why did you have to change the light in here? We were going to practice on the stage.” Finn asked.

“Because I could see the light flickering from the stage and I couldn't let it continue. It's bad for the wiring.” Rachel said. “Anyway. I got the bad lightbulb out, but I still need to replace it.” She shook the bulb in her hand.

“I'll do it,” Finn said, reaching the lightbulb. Rachel pulled it away from his hand.

“No, no,” she said, “I started it and I'll finish it. It wouldn't be fair to make you do it just because it was bothering me. I'll just get a stepladder from the janitor's closet in the outside hallway.”

Finn shook his head, “It wouldn't bother me, really. You don't need to waste time looking for a ladder when I'm here. I'm kind of tall.”

Rachel smiled at him, “Thank you for the offer, Finn, but I'm going to do this. I can't let you finish something I began. It's not right.”

Finn couldn't believe how stubborn Rachel could be sometimes. Ok, he could because she had done some crazy stuff before due to her convictions, but still. It was a lightbulb. He finally said, “You can change the lightbulb, Rachel, I won't stop you. But you don't need a ladder.”

Rachel looked confused, “Of course I need a stepladder. The chair is obviously not stable enough for me to stand on to do this.”

“That's true,” Finn said, “But I'm closer.” And then he wove his fingers together into a basket and leaned over.

“Finn!” She said, “I'd really prefer to use a stepladder. It's safer.”

Finn smiled, “Come on, Rachel. Trust me.”

He was actually a little surprised when Rachel gave in and stepped into his hands and boosted herself until she could kneel on his shoulders and reach the ceiling. He wasn't going to say anything about it though, because she seemed to have forgotten that his head was now under her skirt. Finn liked how Rachel tended to forget about modesty; it was kind of hot, but in a surprise way.

\----

Kurt was reciting a list of items he and Finn were going to need if they were going to plan an anniversary dinner for their parents next week when Finn suddenly said, “C'mere” and drew him into a hug. Startled, Kurt stopped talking and stood there while Finn squeezed him tight, his head on top of his—messing up his hair. Kurt often felt so small next to Finn and he felt like he was being engulfed by plaid flannel.

“I was only saying that we should consider live floral arrangements instead of silk,” Kurt said. “I don't think that's worthy of a hug.” Finn was warm and Kurt wanted to lean his head into his shoulder. This was not good for his mental health, especially since practice was about to begin and their friends were trickling in. Kurt had a feeling Mercedes would insist he start therapy if she saw them like this.

And that's when Finn leaned down and picked him up by his thighs sending him straight up. Finn had been on some sort of stupid hobbit-y quest to pick everyone in Glee club up and tote them around like little kids since the beginning of the year. Kurt froze as he felt himself rising through the air until his head was well over Finn's. He didn't know what to do with his hands and ended up frantically waving them until he found purchase in Finn's hair.

Kurt had made every effort to avoid being picked up by Finn and had been the last holdout from Finn making a perfect record. Even Matt had eventually gotten caught when Finn barreled into him one day in the middle of dance rehearsal and fireman lifted him across the stage. Now Kurt had his crotch in Finn's face in front of the entire glee club despite himself. “Put me down, you giant oaf!”

Finn just shrugged, startling Kurt as his body shifted with him, “No way. It took me weeks to get you with your guard down.” Finn started walking, jostling Kurt enough that he began to kick his legs in an attempt to displace Finn's hold on him.

Finn kept moving towards the risers and Kurt clutched at his hair when he started to feel like he was going to fall. “Ow, ow ow! Alright, Kurt, alright! Let go of my hair and I'll put you down.” Kurt immediately let go of Finn and closed his eyes as he felt Finn let him slide through his hands towards the ground. He shivered as he felt Finn's hands move across his back (and ignored that they had been on his ass). Once he was on the ground, he stepped away from Finn and tried to pull himself together.

Finn was smiling with childish joy now and Kurt could feel himself wanting to smile back. He glared instead and stomped away, ignoring how Finn was ruefully shaking his head behind him. Sitting next to Mercedes, he ignored her 'I know a great counselor, here's his card' look. Then she raised her fingers and waggled them at him as she smiled. Kurt smiled back.

“So this means you're done now, right, Finn?” Puck said from the back of the room, “Because if that's true then I'm going to start a little personal goal of my own to feel each and every one of you up. Prepare to get groped, jerks, I'm feeling frisky.”


End file.
